With the 1976 championship approaching, McGuire bought an old Frank Williams FWO4 chassis and campaigned this car throughout the season. In the first year of the Group 8 championship, Brian showed his competence and found renewed vigour when Kelly Girl stepped in with some much needed financial assistence for the team. The Williams was repainted in the vivid green livery of its new sponsers and as if to celebrate this, Brian totally dominated the Thruxton meeting September 1976, starting from Pole and winning by a handsome margin. At Thruxton, in the wet, there were few who weren't aware that it was the first time a Williams had ever won a race.
It was in this car that Brian was tragically killed, a Shellsport International meeting, during practice for the Gp8 Race, held at Brands Hatch on Monday 29th August 1977. It was a practice run that he need never have taken. It ended when his Formula 1 car plunged off the track and also killed a Fire Marshall. It was believed that the failure of a locating bolt from the pedal assembly was the cause of the accident.
Brian McGuire was a true Sportsman and a gentleman, a driver who raced purely for personal enjoyment.
